Activities in San Diego area - April - Family of 4 two kids 10 & 11 yrs old
 

Hello - Planning a trip to San Diego. We have lodging right now we are booked at a hotel in the GasLamp District. Still poking around to see if there is a better option. Anyhow here is a rough draft of the itinerary:

Arrive 8pm - Hotel, Dinner, Bed
Day 1 - (wed)Trolley tour or similar to get the lay of the land and learn some history
Day 2 (thurs) - Balboa Park - Gardens & Zoo
Day 3 - (Fri) Coronado
Day 4 - (Sat) La Jolla/tidal poo, eat, shop and Torrey Pines (hike)
Day 5 - (Sun) Beach??? Pacific, Imperial or Mission ????
Day 6 (Mon) - Ideas??? Depart from SD airport in the evening

Not really interested in Legoland or Disney Land and hesitant on Sea World. Not sure if the Zoo if better than the Safari Park. We will likely get a car for part of the trip probably not the first day or two.

Also are there any activity pass cards that are worth it? Thanks for sharing your ideas and experience.

Also want to see the USS Midway maybe day 3?

where are you staying downtown? when are you travelling. tour 1st day is a good idea. for coronado, you could take the ferry over (which might be fun) and take a taxi to the hotel del or rent bikes to get around. then you could do the uss midway afterwards. you could also take a taxi or bus to the zoo / balboa park. then rent a car for the other days. go to pacific / mission beach. enjoy the beach (pack a picnic), rent bikes, blades or walk along the boardwalk. go to belmont park to ride the roller coaster. leave the last day open to see what the weather is like and what you'd like to do once you get a sense of what's available.

sorry, i see you said april. on thought for the last day, consider a drive up the coast and go to laguna beach for the day.

What month are you planning San Diego? That can make a difference. If you're looking at summer then you'll want to go on the zoo website and see what the zoo is offering compared to Safari Park.

Balboa park is always nice, even for locals. It's lovely and this year is the Centennial. So you might want to search that website as well.

Scripps Aquarium in La Jolla.

Thanks everyone. Balboa park seems huge what are the top 3 things to do there - beside the zoo? Is there ample public parking at Balboa and the beaches?

Lodging is leaning toward the courtyard marriott which used to be a bank on the border of the GL District. Also considering options for a place with a water view - Bay or ocean. Have been searching VRBO and resorts. Trying to keep cost to $2,500. with 3 beds (not necessarily 3 bedrooms just 3 beds. 1 bedroom preferred.

Day 5 - (Sun) Beach??? Pacific, Imperial or Mission ????

Imperial Beach is generally polluted from the Tijuana River runoff. I wouldn't go there.

If you'll be in the downtown area (the Gaslamp area) the easiest beach to get to is La Jolla Shores and is straight up the freeway on 5 North and take the La Jolla Parkway exit and turn right onto La Jolla Shores Drive. (Make sure you get exact directions!!) From downtown it takes about 25 minutes.

To go to Mission Beach and Pacific Beach are actually closer as the crow flies but, requires more stop and go traffic. Mission Beach and PB are both rather touristy but offer lots of things to see like local beach shops and restaurants. Parking is difficult.

La Jolla Shores is more local and I love the little "downtown" of LJShores. Parking is much better because there is a large city owned lot and it's free. LJ Shores is part of a protected ocean preserve and you can sign up with some of the local dive shops to kayak, dive, surf lessons...or just swim & snorkel on your own. As the life guard where you can see the tiger sharks, they are fun to swim with!

You also asked about the Zoo (which is in Balboa Park) vs the Wild Animal Park. You have limited time and WA Park is about an hours drive north of downtown San Diego. I don't think it's worth the two hours in traffic personally.

If you do go to the Zoo, you will see a Merry-Go-Round as you enter the zoo's parking lot. It's a fun thing to experience (as it's the oldest M.go.rnd in the states I believe). It is truly a fun thing to do. Ask about the "gold ring." :)

I should say if you plan to actually swim and do water activities La Jolla Shores is better. If you plan to just view the ocean - maybe walk in the sand, etc then I would consider Mission Beach.

Typically the ocean water temps have been cold in April (around 60 degrees) but last year we had ocean temps in the mid to high 70's starting in April. (That's a double smiley face).

Thanks for the suggestions. Do not plan to swim but walking on the beach is enjoyed and viewing any kind of sea life would be awesome.

Then I would recommend either Mission Beach (you won't see much in the way of sea life) or my favorite the La Jolla Cove. The Cove is in downtown La Jolla. There are sea lions (occasionally some seals), a nice tide pool and above the Cove beach is a nice park (Scripps). La Jolla Cove is also adjacent to the main downtown area of La Jolla where you can walk around and shop on Girard the main street. A good restaurant is the Cottage http://www.cottagelajolla.com/
I think your boys would find more to do at the Cove if they want to experience a day at the beach type activity.

Or closer to The Cove is a little healthy fast food place called Burger Lounge.

You also asked about substituting the Midway vs Coronado. If you spend a day at the Cove or Mission Beach then you could probably skip Coronado and do the Midway. Actually if you wanted you could do both. When you are on the Embarrcadero (where the Midway is docked) you can take a small foot ferry over to Coronado. I would try to see the Hotel Del Coronado which is a wonderful historic landmark old hotel built in the 1880's.

If you don't plan to go into the main business area of Coronado or tour some of the homes, etc then I would skip Coronado.
http://hoteldel.com/

Mission Beach is also fun for 10 & 11 year old boys. There is a little midway with a few rides, a roller coaster, and an arcade. There is a city parking lot (free). If your boys like skateboarding, they might be able to rent boards from a local surf shop (which will be everywhere). Or you could rent bikes and bike up the boardwalk which runs parellel to the ocean.

nanabee - I have La Jolla carved out for day 4 which will include the tidal pool. Also want to go to Torrey Pines that day for a hike.

Day 2 - I would be there when they open. Parking is free but if you are coming during Easter week it will be crowded. Also a lot of people will be on Spring Break in April so it's best to beat the crowd.

Day 3 - Coronado has a beautiful beach to walk on. You can spend a day in Coronado. Walk the beach, rent bikes, do a segway tour, have lunch. Then drive to the Ferry Landing and be there at sunset.

Just saw your comment on the USS Midway. I would be at the Midway when they open and spend 2 or 3 hrs there. The Ferry leaves from next door and then you could go to Coronado for lunch.

Day 4 - You might also see if the Birch Aquarium is of interest.

Day 5 - Since you aren't going to swim you won't need an entire day for the beach. Maybe start the day at the Midway and then drive to Pacific Beach or Mission Beach (Belmont Park.) You can walk the boardwalk between the 2 in 1/2 hr.

Whether you drive out to Escondido for the Safari Park - I would wait to see what the weather is like out there that day. It's usually around 10 degrees hotter out there than near the beach.

Scratching the Safari Park off the list seems like too much time to spend in the car. The SD Zoo will be enough I think.

Taking Safari Park off is a good idea. It seems it would be fun during the summer with the sleepovers.

Torrey Pines is beautiful, it makes for a great morning hike.

The SD zoo is nice and you are combing the zoo with Balboa Park. I would get to the zoo as early as possible (I think it opens at 8 am) before it gets crowded. I would take the zoo tour bus which takes you around the entire zoo (which is large). That will shorten your time at the zoo and you can then walk over to Balboa Park and walk down the main Promenade. There is a popular restaurant called The Prado (but the prices are a little high and the food is just ok). I would recommend going around the corner (next to the Organ Pavillion) to the new Japanese Gardens little restaurant. The prices are better, food good and you can sit outdoors. There aren't many other choices for eating:
http://www.balboapark.org/in-the-park/tea-pavilion

There are many museums. If you have time I would check out the Air & Space Museum
http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/

It is interesting and different. And has some hands on stuff.
The other museums are typical of many you might find in your hometown. And not sure it's worth the time & money.

Being outdoors in Balboa Park is really a nice day.

Thanks everyone - I am really looking forward to this trip.

The science museum in Balboa Park is one of my favorites.

www.rhfleet.org/

I have to agree with nanabee about being outside in the park... :)

Hope you have a wonderful time in SD familythattravels. :)